[단독] The son-in-law of “Kim Jong-un the safeguard” exiled in Korea in 2019

It has been confirmed that a high-level diplomat who served as ambassador at the North Korean embassy in Kuwait chose to go to South Korea in secret and settled in Korea for more than a year. This person is known as the son-in-law of Jeon Il-chun, who oversaw the Labor Party’s room 39, called the Kim Jong-il family, the “safety keeper.” Following Cho Sung-gil, former deputy ambassador to Italy, and an elite diplomat in exile to Korea, it is expected to have a considerable impact on inter-Korean relations.

As a result of Maeil Economic Daily’s report, it was confirmed that Ryu Hyun-woo (Korean name), former North Korean ambassador to Kuwait, is living in Korea with his family. After the former ambassador to Egypt defected by Jang Seung-gil, it was confirmed that the highest-ranking diplomat escaped the country. Former Ambassador Ryu was serving as a councilor at the North Korean embassy in Kuwait. In September 2017, Ambassador Chang-sik Seo was deported in accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolution 2371 on North Korea. Later, in 2019, he succeeded in evacuating North Korea with both his wife and children in Kuwait, where he worked.

The North Korean embassy in Kuwait is the only North Korean embassy in the Gulf region, and is the core mission of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Due to the deterioration of diplomatic relations due to UN sanctions, Ambassador Joo Myung-cheol is dispatched to the North Korean embassy in Kuwait.

Former Ambassador Ryu graduated from the Department of Arabic at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and worked at the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So far, he has accumulated his career in the Middle East, including Syria, a major weapon exporter of North Korea. Former Ambassador Ryu, who had refrained from contact with the outside world for a year after entering Korea in September 2019, said, “As a parent, I decided to escape from North Korea in order to present a better future to my children.” His wife, Mr. Moo, is an elite who completed a master’s degree in economics at Kim Il-sung University and worked at a research institute in Pyongyang.

The father-in-law of the former Ambassador Ryu, or Mr. Jeon’s father, is Jeon Il-chun, who served as the head of the No. 39 Labor Party in North Korea. Jeon Il-chun was an alumni of Kim Jong-il and Pyongyang Namsan High School (a course that combines middle and high schools in South Korea), and was a ‘gold guard’ of Kim’s rich man who managed Kim Jong-il and Kim’s slush funds for two generations. The head of the Labor Party 39, who oversees the preparation and management of the Labor Party’s governing funds, as well as the slush funds of the rich Kim, such as the purchase and procurement of luxury goods of the Kim family, and foreign concealed funds, is known as the core of North Korean power.

Rep. Tae Young-ho analyzed that “Jeon Il-chun’s son-in-law who entered Korea is a key high-ranking person in the North,” and said, “The coming of such a person to South Korea shows that the high-ranking public sentiment supporting the Kim Jong-un regime is leaving.”

Foreign currency earning general manager family
His wife is from Kim Il Sung University
The antipathy of the Kim Jong-un regime increases, but the sense of touch

As it was confirmed that former North Korean ambassador Jo Sung-gil to Italy and former North Korean ambassador to Kuwait Ryu Hyun-woo also went into exile, observations are raised that anxiety about the Kim Jong-un regime has spread among high-ranking North Koreans. In particular, an analysis suggests that the pressure on the North Korean elite seems to have increased considerably as the economic hardship intensified due to prolonged sanctions against North Korea and the border blockade following Corona 19.

According to information authorities and sources on the 24th, former Ambassador Ryu’s asylum took place in September 2019, less than two months after the former Ambassador Cho entered Korea. All of them served as ambassadors locally as foreign governments expelled North Korean ambassadors residing in their country following the adoption of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2371 on North Korea in August 2017.

At that time, Ambassador Ryu served as an ambassador in the position of a councilor, followed by the ambassador. The ranks of overseas diplomatic missions in North Korea are usually organized in the order of ambassador, public corporation, tragedy, and first to third scribes. Former Ambassador Cho, while serving as the 3rd scribe, raised the rank to the 1st scribe and took over as Ambassador. Former Ambassador Ryu, who was a councilor, is a diplomat with a higher rank than former Ambassador Cho. The wife of former Ambassador Ryu is also an elite who graduated from Kim Il-Sung University. He holds a master’s degree in economics, which is rare for women in North Korea. It is known that obtaining a master’s or doctoral degree in North Korea requires a very difficult examination.

The reason that North Korean ambassador-level diplomats continue to escape from North Korea is analyzed because the monitoring and pressure on North Korean diplomatic missionaries are increasing under the Kim Jong-un regime. Seo Jae-pyeong, the secretary general of the North Korean Defector Automated Branch, explained, “After Kim Jong-un took office, it is confirmed that the role of mutual monitoring and punishment for diplomats overseas is increasing.” Director Seo explained, “I heard that there are overly strict punishments, such as purge, even for minor mistakes that could be overlooked in the past,” he said. “Diplomats who have heard of all sorts of purge in Pyongyang always feel anxious that they can suffer too.” .

It is also pointed out that the number of cases of punishment for minor problems caused by children has increased. One source from North Korea said, “It is common for children to watch foreign movies with their children or to make discussions about advanced world cultures among the upper-class, such as diplomats.” Said.

Labor Party Room 39, headed by Jeon Il-chun, the father-in-law of former Ambassador Ryu, is the organization designated as the governmental fund management office of the Kim Jong-un family in North Korea. It was organized in the mid-1970s and oversaw North Korea’s foreign currency earning. As an institution that has created and managed Kim Jong-il’s slush funds, it is in charge of acquiring foreign currency through North Korean trading companies, hotels, and foreign shops. Specifically, it is known that it owns North Korea’s major financial institutions such as Daesung Bank and Korea Bank, and directly operates more than 100 factories and companies such as the Muncheon Geumgang Smelting Plant, Wonpyeong Daeheung Fisheries Office, and Daesung Tire Plant in Gangwon Province.

The slush fund prepared by Labor Party Room 39 is mainly used to lay the foundation for Kim Jong-un’s power. In order to show off their status as a leader, it is typical to build Masiknyeong Ski Resort or Pyongyang Munsu Water Park. It is also used to hold banquets with the party’s officials or to give luxury items. According to the US State Department’s earlier statement, Labor Party Room 39 has been working on counterfeit dollars and opium cultivation, as well as producing drugs directly on farms in North Hamgyeong Province and North Pyongan Province.

Originally, Room 39 of the Labor Party was in charge of financial accounting of the Korean Workers’ Party and belonged to the Political Affairs Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party. It seems to exist separately under the name of. According to the Ministry of Unification, as of January 2020, the head of Room 39 was Shin Ryongman.

Jeon Il-chun, who served as the 39th head of the Labor Party, is Kim Jong-il’s alumni in middle and high school. In 1981, he served as vice-president of North Korea’s Foreign Economic Division, then vice-chairman of the Foreign Economic Commission in 1993, and vice-chairman of Labor Party Room 39 in 1998. In 2010, he served as the 1st vice-president of the Labor Party Central Committee and the head of Office No. 39, and in the same year was appointed as the chairman of the National Development Bank. It is known that Shin Ryong-man, the current chief executive officer, had served as the vice chief under Jeon Il-chun for a long time.

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